Revision Also known as: The Complete Idiot´s Guide to Revision Before we start…….(hands up if you agree) THREE TOUGH TRUTHS 1. YOU'VE got to do it. • Not your teachers with their revision sessions. • Not randomly flipping through internet sites • Revising is like giving up smoking. • You can get the patches, but at the end of the day it's YOU that's got to do it, and it involves decision and will-power. 2. Revision takes time. • There is no 'instant' version which will cut corners. • Sleeping with your book under the pillow doesn't do it. • Stop playing at other things, and start working at your revision. • And the crapper you are at it, the longer you've will have to spend on it ... or fail. 3. Fix the information • Revising is remembering. • It's not 'revising' unless you're fixing it into your brain. • If you spend five hours working in your room, but you still can't remember it in the exam, you've spent 5 hours working, but you've not done any revision. • Never just read your notes. You must always be DOING something with them to FIX the information in your brain (and probably the easiest way to do this is to write it down. First you need to establish how you learn…. • Watch this video showing an interview with Howard Gardener • What theory does his book propose? • How did he set about proving his hypothesis scientifically? According to Gardner intelligence is: • The ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is valued in a culture • A set of skills that make it possible for a person to solve problems in life • The potential for finding or creating solutions for problems, which involves gathering new knowledge • All human beings possess all intelligences in varying amounts. • Each person has a different intellectual composition. • We can improve education by addressing the multiple intelligences of our students. • These intelligences are located in different areas of the brain and can either work independently or together. • These intelligences may define the human species. So what are the difference intelligences? Group Activity: Have a look at the different types of intelligence proposed by Howard Gardner. Can you think of an example of an activity you might be good at for each different one? What kind of intelligences are your strengths? • Have a go at the quiz • Calculate your scores • Rank the different intelligences in order • This quiz will give you an idea of how you like to learn but IT IS NOT DEFINITIVE! Now lets think about learning styles….. Now try the test to find out what kind of learner you are.. • What have the two quizzes made you realise about the way you learnt/revised in the past? • List two ways you could change your revision practices to help you learn a topic.. STARTER: Handles and hooks • You can buy books on 'amazing memory strategies'. • Most of them use a process of association - they link the 'things to be remembered' to other things in their brain (e.g. if they have to remember 'clock-shoe-banana' they imagine a man eating a banana by the town hall clock bending down to tie his shoe.) • Part of the key to revision is to find the hooks (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) which best help you to 'fix' the learning. Now lets think about the process of revising…. • Common Difficulties : Which ones apply to you….? 1. I am often frustrated at examination times. 2. I seem to spend a lot of time revising and not getting the good results. 3. I am not sure if my techniques are the most efficient. 4. I mainly leave revision until it is almost too late. Where do you revise? Your answer Where do you revise? Is it noisy? What about comfort factors? Do you prefer to revise alone or with friends/both? What is likely to distract you? What time of day do you prefer to revise/study? So what would be your ideal revision scenario? Ideal? Better to …? Have you planned your revision? • You have six IB subjects for that all need revision time • Have you thought about organising your time in the evenings effectively so you can make sure you cover all the areas required for your subjects? • Have a go with planning your biology revision! -look at the timetable provided -how do you need to change it in order to make it fit in with your schedule? What techniques work for you and which don´t? • Look at the following table in your notes and add these headings I have used this technique and it works for me I have never tried this technique but it might fit in with my learning style I have tried this technique but it doesn´t work • Around the room are some different techniques use to revise effectively – fill the different techniques into your table (there are 13 to find!) Using LOs and assessment criteria • Have a look at the Learning Outcomes for each subject • Do you understand all the command terms? • Have you used the IB Exam Revision guide? Objective 1: Demonstrate an understanding of: Define - scientific facts and concepts Measure List Label - scientific methods and techniques - scientific terminology - methods of presenting scientific information Objective 2: Apply and Use: - scientific facts and concepts Distinguish - scientific methods and techniques - scientific terminology to communicate effectively - appropriate methods of presenting scientific information Objective 3: Construct, Analyse and Evaluate: - hypotheses, research questions and predictions - scientific methods and techniques - scientific explanations Draw State Describe Calculate Apply Identify Outline Estimate Annotate Suggest Predict Analyse Discus Sketch Deduce Show s Construct Comment Explain Solve Design Determine CompareEvaluate Derive All definitions of command terms are taken from the IB Biology Subject Guide: http://xmltwo.ibo.org/publications/migrated/productionapp2.ibo.org/publication/7/part/1/chapter/7.html Rewriting notes • One tried and tested method is just to copy out your notes, by hand, again and again. • Better still - because it makes you THINK about what you are writing - is to make a paraphrase of your notes, then a paraphrase of the paraphrase, and so on, until you have compressed your notes into a series of cryptic headings. • Not only are these easy to learn, by writing and re-writing the words you have helped to embed them in your brain. Try and summarise the paragraph below into short bulllet points: • Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (i.e., increase or decrease the rates of) chemical reactions. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and they are converted into different molecules, called the products. Almost all processes in a biological cell need enzymes to occur at significant rates. Since enzymes are selective for their substrates and speed up only a few reactions from among many possibilities, the set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell. Maybe something like this…. Enzymes • Protein catalysts that speed up rate of reactions • Allow metabolic reactions in cells to occur at a significant rate • Each substrate has a specific enzyme that catalyses it into a product • Presence of specific enzymes in cell shows the reactions the cell is capable of Flash cards • A great way to revise with friends! • Practise your key words and definitions and/or your summarising skills • Look for the assessment statements that use the word ‘Define’ • Why not try making a set for all the key words and definitions you have learnt for one of the topics and then get someone to test you! Find the definitions in your notes and make a set of cards! Mindmaps • A great way to get an overview of a topic • Allows you to organise your notes to understand the ‘big ideas’ The 4P rule ractice of ast papers = erfect exam technique!
